Suicide attacker blows himself up

A suicide attacker with explosives strapped to his body blew himself up today outside a military caterer in Kabul but caused no casualties, Afghanistan's interior ministry said.

The explosion took place east of the capital, close to a warehouse and supermarket run by Supreme Food Services, supplier of food to the foreign military, ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said.

"It was suicide attack and the suicide attacker detonated explosives strapped to his body," he said.

It was not immediately clear what the target of the attack had been, he said, adding the attacker, who was on foot, may have detonated prematurely.

The blast took place at the Kabul end of the road to Bagram air base, a huge NATO installation and until recently the biggest in the country, which is about 45 kilometres further north.

Taliban insurgents are waging a campaign against the presence of foreign troops -- now numbering 130,000 -- and have promised to target personnel, both foreign and Afghan, and facilities associated with them.

Two suicide bomb attacks in Kabul earlier this month ended a peaceful stretch in the capital of almost three months.

On May 18, at least 18 people, including women, children and six international troops, were killed in an attack on a NATO convoy in a busy city centre street.

The following day, seven Taliban militants were killed and at least five NATO personnel wounded in clashes at the Bagram base.

Bagram is around 60 kilometres north of central Kabul. International forces also have a prison at the site, opened following the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001.